St. Britto High School, Mapusa. commonly known as St. Britto or St. Britto's, is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

primary and secondary school for boys located in

Mapusa Mapusa () is a city in North Goa, India. It is situated 13 km north of the state capital of Panaji. The city is the headquarters of Bardez taluka. It is located on the main highway NH-17, linking Mumbai to Kochi. During Portuguese Indi ...

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, on the west coast of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was founded in 1946 and is run by the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

(Jesuits). It is all-boys and includes nursery till grade ten. In 2017 all 142 graduates passed the secondary exam.

History

Indo-Portuguese Indo-Portuguese creoles are the several Portuguese creoles spoken in the erstwhile Portuguese Indian settlements, Cochin Portuguese Creole, Fort Bassein, Goa and Damaon, Portuguese Ceylon etc; in present-day India and Sri Lanka. These creoles ...

historian Dr. Teotonio de Souza, part of the school's staff in the 1970s, says this was the third institution set up by the Jesuits in Goa. Its founding was assisted by Valentino Pinto, a wine-merchant of Mapusa. Initially, the school was called Sacred Heart High School. Its original owner faced difficulties in staffing and running it, and handed it over to the Jesuits on 22 June 1946, in Portuguese-ruled Goa. Dom Caetano Menezes, the owner of St. Mary's school nearby, also handed over his institution to the Jesuits. The school's name was changed to St. Britto High School on 18 May 1948.

Early days

Dr. Teotonio R. de Souza suggests that the reputation of the Jesuits in Goa had been on the rise with their management of Theotonio High School, owned by the Goa Archdiocese. Fr. Sylvester D'Souza was the first principal of the schools taken over, and both were initially co-educational. The Jesuits transferred the girls from the schools to the Apostolic Carmel (AC) nuns, already active in education in Goa, who went on to form the St. Mary's Convent High School, also at Mapusa along the Altinho hilltop where St. Britto is itself located. Initially, St Britto's functioned from the Bardez Gymkhana site. Priests running the school and boarders rented houses atop the hill, an inconvenient arrangement especially during Goa's torrential monsoons. The new site of the school was purchased from Cipriano da Cunha Gomes. The Goa Archdiocese assisted construction with a loan. Fr. Ubaldo de Sá, of Moira, is credited with the construction. The school's large facade dominates the town of Mapusa from a distance.

Coat of arms

The School Coat of Arms is divided thus:
At the top, against a field of blue, is the monogram of the

, in a golden sun: IHS (the Greek shortform for the name of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

), surmounted by a cross. Below that, against a field of golden yellow, are the palms of martyrdom, which pay tribute to the Patron of the School, St. John de Britto. A red chevron separates the lamp of learning (to dispel darkness and ignorance) at the bottom of the coat of arms. At the bottom is the school motto, "''Facta non Verba''" on the scroll below the coat of arms, which means ''Deeds Not Words''.

Activities and sports

The school has a Consumer Club and Eco Club, but emphasizes seasonal events and celebrations in which the whole school participates: Swachha Bharat Day, St. Ignatius day, Goa Liberation Day, and Christmas festivities including a carol competition. Intramural sports include football, table tennis, badminton, chess, and basketball. Students are also trained after school hours in cricket, basketball,

kabaddi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...

, touch rugby, throw ball, net ball, sepak takraw, and boxing.

Headmasters

* Fr.Sylvester D'Souza, SJ 1946–1949 * Fr.Irineu Lobo, SJ 1949–1950 * Fr.Edward V D'Souza, SJ 1950–1951 * Fr.Peter Mendonça, SJ 1951–1952 * Fr.Edward V D'Souza 1952–1962 * Fr.Lino D'Souza, SJ 1962–1964 * Fr.Mario C de Meyrelles, SJ 1964–1973 * Fr.Teotonio de Sales, SJ 1973–1976 * Fr.Vincent Gomes Catao, SJ 1976–1982 * Fr.Anil Soares, SJ 1982–1988 * Fr.Joe Palliparambil, SJ 1988–1990 * Fr.Abraham Painumkal, SJ 1990–1999 * Fr.Apollo Cardozo, SJ 1999–2011 * Fr.Cedric Fernandes: 2011–2020 * Fr. Simon L de Melo, SJ 2020- Present

Notable alumni

* Francis D'Souza former Deputy Chief Minister of Goa and Member of the Legislative Assembly. *

Roy de Souza Roy de Souza (born 1970) is a Kenyan-born tech entrepreneur and writer. He is the co-founder of technology company ZEDO and medical technology company BreakBio. In 2022, he was a TEDx speaker. In May 2023, he and his wife Aisha de Sequeira were ...

director of Resicom Builders.

References

External links

Britto's Old Boys' Association website

Britto alumni webpage

The Goa Jesuit Province of the Society of Jesus
- The Jesuits in Goa

Britto links on Google.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Britto High School, Mapusa 1946 establishments in Portuguese India Jesuit primary schools in India Educational institutions established in 1946 High schools and secondary schools in Goa Buildings and structures in Mapusa Education in North Goa district Jesuit secondary schools in India Private schools in Goa